Chicago Transit Ventra Card Activation

If you are a Chicago Transit user, then you probably are aware of the Ventra migration currently underway at the CTA.

Here are the steps to convert from your Chicago Card to Ventra Card.  This post is ONLY applicable if your name is on the Ventra Card. If you bought the ventra card at a retailer, then you need to register your ventra card online.

Steps To Activate Your New Ventra Card

Steps until you receive the Ventra Card by post:

1. Look for an email from updatesATventrachicago.com usually with the subject "Convenience is coming".  Look in spam folders and alternative email accounts for this email.  
2. In the email, they provide you a temporary username and password.
3. Wait till your cards arrive by post.  It usually takes anywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks for the cards to arrive by post once you get the email.

Steps after you receive your Ventra Cards:

Now that you have received your Ventra Cards, follow the steps here.

1. Go to http://www.ventrachicago.com
2. Top right corner, there is a button "Account login".   Click that button.
3. Now check the email. Obtain your temporary username and password. Click "SignIn".
4. You will be asked to confirm/provide email address, date of bith, 4 digit access code, phone number etc.
5. Once you do step 4, you will be taken to your account.
6. Click "Manage Account".   Change your username to whatever you want and also change the temporary password to a password you can remember.

We have finished the online account work. We now have to use the phone to activate the cards. You can use any phone (does not have to be the registered phone on your account).

Steps to activate your Ventra Cards by phone:

You have to repeat the following procedure for each card you receive.  You cannot activate multiple cards with one phone call.

You will have to call the phone number on the front of the card.  It is 1-888-824-8802 for me.

1. Call the phone number on the front of your card. Try to make a wedge in the sticker so that you can read the full digits of your ventra card.
2. The automated system will say:  Press 1 for English.   Press 1.
3. Enter your full account number from the card. It should be 16 digits. Press # sign.
4. Enter your 4 digit access code (that you set up in the online account). Press # sign.
5. The automated system will say,  Press 1 if you want to convert your card into a prepaid debit card or 2 if you want to proceed with activation.   Press 2.
6. Automated system will say "Your card is active blah blah."

If you login to your online account and go to "Manage your account". The registered cards should all say "Active".   Currently the registered cards show $0 funds.  It takes at least an hour for the activation emails to be sent by Ventra.  At that time, you can go to your account and see that they have transferred funds to your card.

Kenmore washer lights flashing

Follow this: http://m.managemylife.com/mmh/questions/254758-kenmore-washer-lights-blinking-cancel-pause-button-machine-continue-washing-cancel-start

Sometime the control panel may be locked by mistake (such as when the machine gets tilted a bit during heavy loading). In that case, do either:
a) press "drain and spin" button for 5 seconds or
b) press "option and select" buttons together for 5 seconds and press start button.

Cruising Tips for Indian Passengers

This post is mainly to share some of the experiences on board a cruise to Bahamas that I undertook recently.  If you are an Indian looking for tips for cruising, this post may help you. :)  That is my sincere hope.

Choosing a Cruise Line

It depends on your budget.  I personally prefer freestyle cruising. I do not want to pack suits or formal dining wear.  Royal Caribbean  Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines should fit in your budget and style.  Celebrity cruises and similar may be a shade upscale for Indian taste.  I traveled on Norwegian Cruise Line for a 3 day get away to the Bahamas.

Citizenship, Green Card or Visa for a Bahamas Trip

If you are a US Citizen, then you can either use a Passport or Passport Card.
If you are a Green Card Holder, then you just need your GC with you.  Passport is recommended along but not required.
If you are on H1B, F1, EAD etc, then you will need visa to the Bahamas.

Getting to the Cruise

There is airport style security when you enter the cruise.  Opened water bottles and food that is open is not allowed.  You can drink the remaining water or you will need to throw away the open food.  If the food is store bought and sealed, then they usually let you go. Juice boxes, beverages etc should be ok to take on board.

When you checkin, you will be given a card that will have a bar code. They will take a picture.  Entry/exit from the cruise ship will require you to scan your card and the officers will be able to see your picture on screen.  Try not to lose your cards.

Sea Sickness

Since the cruise is in constant movement on the seas, if you suffer from motion sickness you will have some suffering.

Some of the options for you are:

• Buy Ginger Root Tablets from Walgreens or CVS or Walmart.  Take one in the morning and one in the evening. Keep the schedule starting from 24 hours before cruising.
• Cruise Lines have sea sickness tablets that work for 12 hours or 24 hours.
• Buy Motion Sickness Tablets ($2 - $5) from Walmart. They are cheap and give you 24 hour relief. (I prefer Ginger Tablets to drugs)

I used the ginger root tablets.  I have little bit of motion sickness problems when traveling.  I took the ginger tablets regularly and I was fine.  For kids, you should try to use ginger candy or crystallized ginger ($10 in the spices section of Walmart). (picture: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10308057&findingMethod=rr)

Rooms

Try to book rooms in the midship.  Lower occurrence of motion sickness.  Forward and Aft areas, the ship has more movement.

• Inside Rooms:  These are rooms that have no windows.  They usually sleep 2-4 people and have a bath room attached.  The size of the room is smaller than US hotel rooms but close to European hotel room size.
• Ocean View Rooms:  These have a window that are circular and you can see the ocean.
• Balcony Rooms:  These have balconies that you can walk out and see the ocean.  Very good for summer cruises. In winter, it may be chilly.

Each room has a TV, mini bar and a Safe.  Safe is very easy to operate.

I took an inside room with no view.  I felt uneasy for the first 5 minutes with a claustrophobic feeling. After that, it did not matter.

Food on the Cruise

If you are Indian Vegetarian  then you will have some dishes in the main buffet style cafe and also the free dining restaurants.  Just tell the waiter that you will need Indian Veg food.  The common Indian dishes such as Kadhai Paneer, Malai Kofta, Palak Paneer along with Indian Roti and Papad is usually available in the dining restaurants.

If you are Indian Non Vegetarian, then you have ample options.

Freestyle cruising usually has food at all times. You will have few opportunities to go hungry.

Usually juices and sodas etc are provided free at breakfast, lunch and dinner only.  If you need unlimited beverages, then you can get some type of soda card.  Tea, Milk and Water is always available.

Crew on the Cruise

Whenever you meet the crew - be it the waiters, room stewards or anybody else working for the cruise ship,  PLEASE PLEASE be courteous and friendly with them.  Most of them work nonstop on the ship for 9 months. They get 2 months off each year.  Many of them are home sick and missing their families in their respective countries (primarily India, Philippines, Indonesia, South America and other places).

When you are friendly with the crew, they feel happy and they make you feel welcome. Share your personal stories and ask them about their families and life in general.  They will feel the warmth and will help their work motivation.

I cannot comment on how the cruise lines treat their employees. I just do not know.

Always tip your room steward at the end of the cruise by leaving a letter of appreciation and tips/gifts.

Fun on the Cruise

There are swimming pools, hot tubs, entertainment shows, Theatres, video games (may need payment), kids area (including drop off care), library, basketball, mini golf etc.

You will have enough to keep you occupied.

Shore Excursions

When the cruise lines stop at shores such as Nassau in the Bahamas, you can purchase shore excursions from the cruise guest services.  You have many options and they range in price. In general, they are pricey for your appetite. But choose at least one excursion. It is not often that you go cruising.

What to bring?

• Extension Cord for charging multiple devices.
• Swim suit, bathing trunks, swim goggles etc.
• Sun glasses.
• Multiple carry bags that you get from Grocery stories, Walmart etc.  Very useful to pack.
• A couple of those grocery carry bags (not the plastic ones).
• Backpacks.
• Pepto Bismal/Antacid Tablets. (Food on cruise can be plenty to digest)

There is no need for you to get towels or beach towels. You are provided.  Just don't lose them.

Luggage

Usually there are no restrictions on the number of pieces of luggage that you can bring on board a cruise ship.

When you get to the cruise line, there are porters who can take your checked luggage (with the colored tags that you need to print).

If your luggage is easy to pull, there is no REQUIREMENT to check your luggage.  You can always lug your luggage on to the ship and off the ship.

The night before your trip ends, you have the opportunity to leave your checked bags outside the door (of course with the colored tags).  You will be given the luggage before DHS/Customs checks.

In my opinion, you should be able to deal with your bags unless you have very small children.

Day of sailing

If your sail time is 5pm, the check in process starts around noon. You can get on the ship and have lunch.  Usually your rooms get cleaned and are ready by 2pm. Until then you can handle your luggage. Once your luggage is safely stored in the room, you are free to move around the ship as you please. 

30 minutes to 1 hour before sailing, there is a MANDATORY safety presentation where they talk about safety and life vests etc. This is very similar to airline safety demonstrations. All services (food, recreation) stop few minutes before the mandatory safety drills.

Making Friends

Many of the crew members and passengers are Indians.  So do not forget to make friends on the ship Bollywood, Tollywood ishtyle.

General Comments

Relax, chill and enjoy the cruise.  It is the best thing to happen to you.

Honda Accord :: Brake Lamp red light on

This is for Honda Accord cars. If the red "Brake Lamp" light is on below the car symbol in the dashboard, then do the following in order:

1) Check if the brake tail lights are working. If one of the bulbs is damaged, then this red light is on in the dashboard. Just replace the bulb and check the dashboard. This is the most common reason.

2) Under the hood, if you visualize the machinery as a clock, at 2 o'clock, there is this container that holds a dark liquid. This is the brake fluid container. If the fluid is low in this container, then you will need to replenish the jar with brake fluid. It is also recommended to check the brakes for wear and tear.

These 2 reasons are the most common for the "Brake Lamp" light.

We want Tata Nano to succeed!!!

(Got the text from somewhere).....


What Ratan Tata did for the Mumbai victims.... what every Indian should know!
Monday, May 10, 2010 at 12:23am

Ratan Tata is the chairman of Indian Hotels who own the Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai, which was the target of the terrorists on 26/11/08.

Hotel President a 5 star property also belongs to Indian Hotels.

The following is really touching.

What Ratan Tata did for the Mumbai victims.... Don't miss!!!!!!

SALUTE TO MR. RATAN TATA

A. The Tata Gesture

1. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed.

2. Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed

3. The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the “Pav- Bha ji” vendor and the pan shop owners.

4. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order.

5. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.

6. The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided.

7. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility.

8. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.

9. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.

10. The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks.

11. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.

12. In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees.

13. What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.

14. A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her.

15. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts.

16. Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.

17. This was the most trying period in the life of the organization. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible.

18. The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees tranlates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits:

a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents;

b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world.

c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life.

d. All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount.

e. Counselor for life for each person

B. Epilogue

1. How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did?

2. The organization is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behaviour. If someone suggests that – everyone laughs

3. It has to do with the DNA of the organization, with the way Tata culture exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organization has always been telling that customers and guests are #1 priority

4. The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there.

5. He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could afford fencing only 400 acres.

6. When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan – he said – do you think we are doing enough?

7. The whole approach was that the organization would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life?

This is NOT COVERED BY Any NEWS CHANNELS !

I Salute Mr. Ratan Tata..

Tennis Practice Partner

Looking for a tennis practice partner in the Oak Park, IL region.

I am an advanced beginner (maybe intermediate).

I can:
* Serve decent.
* Hit few rallies consistently.

I am looking for someone who can rally and move around the court consistently.

Contact: anil AT apache DOT org (this is the email. Join the words)

Increasing American Competitiveness

Reference to Arianna Huffington's Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/when-it-comes-to-innovati_b_512280.html

*****************
Legal Immigration:
*****************

Your article talks about the annual limit of 65K H1B Visas and an additional 20K assigned to graduate students passing out of US schools. This does not by itself jumpstart innovation. These cater to some of the immediate needs of US enterprises, universities etc who are pressed to find good qualified skilled labor. If qualified individuals obtain an H1B visa for a few years, their continued presence in the US is only facilitated by Green Cards.

The real issue associated with legal immigration is employment based Green Cards (Permanent Residence Cards). Annually 140K Green Cards are provided for candidates associated with employment. Now the 140K includes spouse and family members. With a family of 4 as an average, the US allows only 35000 qualified candidates from around the world per year. For a great nation in dire need of employees with education and qualification, this number is very small. So if the top scientists, engineers and doctors of the world have to immigrate to the US (remember, Einstein was an immigrant too), they have to struggle for this 140K number and have to wait for a long time to get their Green Cards issued. With worldwide demand for highly skilled/educated personnel, this struggle can be disappointing. Australia, UK, Germany, Canada etc have always facilitated skilled immigration.

Foreigh students enrolled in US universities and carrying advanced, state of the art research will leave the country if they do not have easy ways to continue working in the US, after graduation.

For Family based immigration, there is no real criteria for admission to the US apart from a relationship to a US Citizen. Now how many of these immigrants from the family based category, go onto be innovators is debatable. Then there is the regular humanatarian immigration for refugees. So looking from the global immigration numbers for the US annually, the employment based skilled immigration (referring to green cards and not H1B) is a teeny part of the equation.

There is a critical need to overhaul the legal immigration system to make it easy for highly skilled and higly educated individuals from around the world to immigrate to the US and advance innovation. Along with this, there should be enforcement to eradicate the bad apples trying to game the system or involved in persecuting individuals with the lure of the 'American Dream'.


**************
Infrastructure:
***************

The lack of High Speed Rail infrastructure in the US can be attributed to lack of long term vision. Europe and China have advanced with vision and implementation. According to reports, China has $88 billion in rail spending in 2009 alone with $186.3 B since 2006. On the contrary US has $8 billion committed in 2009 for investments beginning in 2010. Gov.Pat Quinn of IL says the following: "We need visionaries on high speed rail. Where there is no vision, the people perish."

The Indian Government is planning to spend $350B by 2012 with about $150B extra private sector funding to total $500B in infrastructure (http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item39693/Indian-infrastructure-investment-to-reach-US$-500-billion-by-2012/). The Chinese Government announced a $586B stimulus package in 2009 with infrastructure as the main target (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/blog/the-dig-rebuilding-the-economy-with-infrastructure-spending/225/). In comparison, the US will spend about $200B (http://blog.aefeldman.com/2009/01/13/infrastructure-spending-to-surge-in-2009-opening-doors-in-infrastructure-finance/) for infrastructure.

High Speed Rail projects have the biggest deterrent in funding and without federal help, there is very little the individual states can do.

*********************
Mobile Infrastructure:
*********************

Apple may have released the coolest mobile gadgets namely the iPhone and the iPad. But if you look at worldwide adoption of mobile ecommerce, I would say that there is very limited use of mobile technologies in the US such as SMS for commerce. Compared to many of the countries like Japan, the US mobile infrastructure is lacking.

With infrastructure comes innovation. Remember, James Cameron delayed making Avatar for about a decade because the technology that he required, did not exist until the last 3-4 years. So if proper infrastructure is not in place, some innovation that can happen will not.

In my view, the US should look at the improving education with emphasis on science, math and global economy. While this is being done, policies should be implemented to make it easy for the top individuals (in education and skills) of the world to gain residence.

High Speed Rail

* RT @HSRail: Gov Quinn: "We need visionaries on high speed rail. Where there is no vision, the people perish."
* RT @HSRail: 50% of US flights are under 500 miles. These routes clog airports, should be replaced w/ high-speed rail. http://bit.ly/Ve3XH
* Annaheim's proposed rail hub. http://bit.ly/cA0Ll #rail #hsrail #highspeedrail
* High-speed rail might not deliver the Obama vision -> USAToday http://bit.ly/20foKs . #HSRail
* Modern Train Station in Belgium. http://ow.ly/15RE9I
* China: $88 billion in rail spending in 2009 alone, $186.3 since 2006. US: $8 billion committed in 2009 for investments beginning in 2010

Short Term Business Visa/Visitor Visa to Australia

Let us assume that either you have to go to Australia on a short term business trip or want to visit Australia for sight seeing, honeymoon etc. If you do not belong to the set of countries that are ETA eligible (US, UK, Canada, Singapore etc), then you will need to:
a) Apply form 456 for short term business visa.
b) Apply visitor visa (Form 48R).

After this, you have to send it by FedEx or UPS or USPS Express to:

Embassy of Australia,
1601 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington DC 20036

Tips:
1) Allow a minimum of 10 Working Business Days.
2) Do not book flight tickets before the visa arrival.
3) Clearly mark the date of intended travel.
4) Both the Immigration Officers and the help line are very very busy. So it makes sense to plan your travel properly and apply for visa well in advance.

The Help Line is based out of Ontario, Canada.
It is 1(905)280 1437. Note that you may be charged International rates to Canada. Do not use mobile phones to call this help line.

In my case, my packet reached on Feb 1, 2010. My confirmed travel was on Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 to Sydney. Due to record snow storm, Washington DC was shut down for 5 days. But immigration officer, Grace Dizon heroically approved my application on Feb 11 and then called me as to which courier to use so that I get it on Friday for Sunday travel. Remember both UPS and FedEx had not picked any packages for 5 days. She stayed beyond embassy close time of 4:30pm to personally hand the envelope to Fed Ex guy at the entrance (5:14pm). Then she called me on mobile and said "Have a nice trip". Hats off to her.

Indian Satellite Radio will not be same - WorldSpace Demise

It is very sad to learn the demise of the World Space satellite radio in India as of January 1, 2010. It seems to have been the part of majority of Indians' lives for the last few years.

Particularly, the senior citizens were relying on this radio for their favorite genre music - classical, oldies etc.

Some information on the demise of World Space radio in India is here and here.

The World Space Satellite Radio in India had a very flourishing business. The issue was the bankruptcy/debt syndrome of the US based parent company. I do hope that this service in India can be resurrected.

As of January 1, 2010, World Space Internet Radio in INDIA has ceased operations.

Apparently, there is a claims procedure for extra money paid in subscription via the US Bankruptcy courts for 2010. But there is no public information on this yet. If someone has it, please pass it on.

If you need blood donation in India

please refer to the following site for list of donors in various areas of different cities/towns and states.

http://www.friendstosupport.org

Transformation for Photographers

Photographer Zach Arias has made an excellent short film. Watch till the end to get the overall message.

Which banks took TARP money?

If you are wondering about the banks that have taken TARP money, then you should see the report from US Treasury.

Report.

Mavala Stop

If your toddler or any of your family member has the habit of thumb-sucking or nail-biting, there is a product available on amazon and other online stores called as "Mavala Stop". It has an extremely distinct bitter taste that slowly develops in the mouth, thus deterring anyone from continuing the habit of sucking thumb or biting nails.

It is a product made in Switzerland. It takes a few days to a month to fully stop the habit. But it is the best remedy as far as I know.

The ingredients: Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Ester of PVM/MA Copolymer, Phthalic Anhydride/Trimellitic Anhydride/Glycols Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol, Alcohol Denat. Denatonium Benzoate, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Benzophenone-3 and Violet No. 2.

Price: Around $6 online with another $6 in shipping.

Car Repair: How much will it cost?

It is always good to know how much it will cost to get something in your car repaired.

http://www.repairpal.com is a good site for giving a rough idea.

Errors in Bank Statements

It is fun to read about all the horror stories that people have faced when they have interacted with their bank via a website or letters or mailed statements.

Take a look at this BBC web page for a nice read.

The latest banking error is here.

The worse thing is that this can happen to YOU. Never trust that your bank statements are correct and banks always encourage their customers to balance each statement manually and report back errors.

Winter: Car Battery Care

In cold winters, batteries bear most of the brunt. There will be situations when your car will not start at any cost and will need to be jump-started. You will see signs of decline in the battery after about 2-3 years of life. This is when your "I will be prepared" attitude will come to the rescue.

1) Buy a cheap "Jump Starter". Not the cables. But you can buy a quality Jump Starter (emergency) for your car in the range $35-70. This should be charged and kept in your car at all times. Imagine situations when your car battery is dead (as an example, one of the doors was not shut properly?). These situations can happen in summer also. That is when an emergency jump-starter will come in handy.

2) Buy a speed charger for around $30. You can reasonably charge your battery in 5-8 hours with this charger. You plug the terminals of the charger to the battery. Then connect the charger to a power supply. Most of the prominent speed chargers will not over charge. So you should leave it for at least 5 hours.

Peep Feet: Peep and The Big Wide World

Apple iPhone at Walmart?

Well, you can get $2 discount on the phones. But you still need the 2 year plan from AT&T or an upgrade. Nothing spectacular here. You may probably save some gas driving to the nearest AT&T center as walmart(s) are plenty.

According to,
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/12/26/apple-iphone-walmart-markets-equity-cx_mlm_1226markets17.html, an 8GB iPhone will sell for $197 whereas the 16GB version will sell for $297. $10 savings can be achieved at Best Buy. So Walmart is actually $8 more expensive than Best Buy.

Given that various small cities/counties have different local taxes, you should take that in to account also. :)

"Bolt" movie not suitable for toddlers

Even though the movie is very good with awesome animation and special effects, it is certainly not suitable for kids under 5 or 6 years of age. The special effects and the noise in the theatres can scare the kid. The movie has an excellent story and is quite humorous.